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Daily industrial news and top headlines for plant and maintenance managers

Roseau, MN is the birthplace of Polaris, and the sport of snowmobiling. Polaris’ Roseau facility houses both its high-tech product testing lab and manufacturing operations for its ATVs, snowmobiles and Ranger UTVs. The state-of-the-art testing lab in Roseau is a series of glass-walled rooms where engineers can re-create real-life stresses on engines to study their effects on components. While Polaris parts have proven to stand up to virtually any adverse condition, the lab’s flooring, ironically, has repeatedly failed the stress test.

Increasing energy efficiency and cost savings in an industrial facility often comes down to a keen understanding of the manufacturing process, and contouring an appropriate strategy to maximize available opportunities. Case in point is the Menasha, WI, facility of Albany International Corp., a worldwide manufacturer of paper machine clothing, where a unique lighting control strategy was implemented in 2002 during a lighting retrofit.

Because variables such as storage techniques, electrode diameter, and flux composition all contribute to stick electrode selection and performance, arming yourself with some basic knowledge can help you minimize confusion and better ensure stick-welding success.

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Q & A With Bart G. Bartholomew, Vice President, SKF® Reliability Systems
North America
Bart G. Bartholomew is Vice President, SKF® Reliability
Systems North America, a business division of SKF USA, Inc. In his 20 years with SKF, he
has served in a variety of successive positions, ranging from sales and business
development, to distribution management and new product launches.

Providing a maintenance professional with a safe work environment can be an extremely challenging task. The nature of the job requires the technician to put him or herself in different situations every day. This adds additional risk that might not be present in other professions. So how do we keep these employees safe?

Officials at Sierracin/Sylmar Corp. saw the light with an energy conservation project that cut electrical use nearly two-thirds. The company also made back its investment in less than a year in energy cost savings, achieved unexpected energy savings for other operations, and created a brighter workspace. The project was one of the top 20 energy-efficiency programs recognized by the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power.

It's no longer enough for industrial facility managers to simply be aware of their monthly power demands. Today, they must have a solid understanding of the electrical issues that are most likely to impact the bottom line, as well as the tools available to minimize that impact.

World class maintenance organizations are those that consistently demonstrate maintenance best practices to produce bottom line results. A maintenance audit, designed to objectively evaluate best practices in maintenance organizations, is an excellent tool to drive continuous improvement.